


Oneshots

by psychfan13



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-03 22:03:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5308691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychfan13/pseuds/psychfan13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Had bunch of short story ideas and don't know where else to put them.<br/>This is my first time so let me know if it's poorly written or formatted, just bad or whatever.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Morning After

Erin wakes up uncharacteristically early to her face buried in a mass of blonde hair. The events of the previous night start playing through her head. Everything from dinner, to Ella holding her hand as they walked through the park and to the intoxicating kiss on her front door step. She remembers Ella taking her hand and walking into the apartment and eventually into Erin’s bedroom. Her mind vividly replays the events that followed. The hours of talking and exploring each others’ bodies. Erin feels a smile appear on her face when she remembers how eager Ella was and how determined she was to get it right. What she didn’t know was that it would always be right with them. Nothing less.  
  
Erin leans back and turns so she can get a look at the woman that has completely captivated her but all she can see is her naked back with the sheets haphazardly thrown around her waist. Erin takes a moment to admire the power lying comfortably next to her. She knows Ella’s routine, knows how much work she puts into her body and now she gets to admire from up close.  
  
Erin reaches out and runs her hands down Ella’s back. Exploring all the contours that she discovered the previous night. She lets her hand roam lightly from Ella’s shoulder down to where the sheet begins as she tries not to wake Ella up. Now that Erin’s gotten that change to be with Ella, she doesn’t think that she’ll ever get enough. She places a kiss on Ella’s shoulder but that doesn’t garner a reaction from Ella so she starts to work her lips over her back. Erin’s lips start to follow the same path that her hand had just taken from Ella’s shoulders down to the small of her back. She can feel Ella’s breath start to quicken indicating that she’s on the brink of waking up. By the time Erin reaches Ella’s lower back she can sense Ella moving into wakefulness.  
  
When Ella starts to turn around Erin places a quick kiss on her naval and makes her way up body. Once they’re face-to-face Erin presses a kiss on the underside of Ella’s jaw and says “good morning” with a blinding smile on her face. Ella matches that smile and let’s out a raspy “morning” before giving Erin a real kiss. Things start to get a little heated and Ella pulls Erin down on top of her and can’t help but moan at the contact. Before things can get too carried away Ella’s phone starts to ring on the bedside table. Erin takes her lips off of Ella’s to let out a groan as she flops down in the space next to her. Ella turns to answer the call to hear Jackie on the other end. By this time Erin has turned towards Ella again and starts kissing her shoulders again. It’s enough to pull Ella’s focus from Jackie and to miss everything she says.  
  
“Sorry Jack can you say that again, I couldn’t here you.” Jackie repeats that she wants to know if Ella wants to go get some breakfast at the new breakfast spot downtown and starts to go off on a tangent about the owners but Erin has now started to run her hands up and down Ella’s body and she can’t help moan. That causes Jackie to stop mid sentence and Ella does everything she can to try and not give them away but Jackie picks up on the awkwardness and continues to ramble on about the breakfast place. Erin holds the phone away from Ella’s ear and whispers “Stay. I’ll make you breakfast” and places a kiss on Ella’s jaw before putting the phone back on her ear.  
  
Ella’s quick to interrupt Jackie with “Sorry Jack. I can’t make it today but I’ll buy you breakfast any other day okay?” To which Jackie replies with a “uh huh” and says that she’ll talk to her later and to never, _ever_ moan while she’s on the phone with her before hanging up. That causes Ella to go red and to turn and say “Breakfast better be really great” Erin kisses her and says “I’ll make you anything you want. Just later okay” and proceeds to roll on top of her and capturing Ella’s lips in a deep kiss before they continue the events from the previous night.  
  
Erin ends up making them chocolate chip pancakes when they finally make their way out of the bedroom.


	2. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check it out this one's longer than the last.

Erin couldn’t remember the last time the house had been this quiet. The only thing she hears is the faint sound of the shower in the master bedroom. Emily had come by earlier to pick up the kids so they could finally have a night off. God bless her soul. Erin loved her kids more than anything else in the world but everyone needs a day off once in a while. She doesn’t know how such tiny humans have so much energy but her mother likes to remind her that she was a lot worse when she was a kid and her mother-in-law points out that she had twins too and knows exactly how she feels. Ella likes to insist that she was a little angel while Liza would always cause trouble. The rest of her siblings have different stories. Now Erin was cleaning up the mess their kids had left all over the living room while her wife got ready for dinner reservation.  
  
They had decided to go out for once instead of staying in again. The last time they stayed in on date night they ended up cleaning every nook and cranny of the house and promptly falling asleep on the couch right afterwards. They ended up waking up in the middle of the night and having to make dinner because neither of them had eaten. This time they were definitely going out. No question about it. There was a new restaurant that opened up that Ella had been making hints about all week and Erin could never say no to her. So here she was in dark jeans and a white button down trying desperately not to step on any toy cars or LEGO pieces as she tried to clean everything so they didn’t have to do it after dinner. Erin had insisted that the kids would just empty out all their toy boxes when they got back but Ella was firm that she wanted the house to be clean at least for a night.  
  
When she hears the shower turn off she goes into the kitchen to clear the kids’ books off the dinner table so she isn’t tempted to go up and help her wife dry off. They did not need to be late and Ella had made it very clear that they were going to this dinner no matter what and that they’d let the kids stay with Emily overnight. It wasn’t their first time staying with family or friends but Ella got nervous every time. They kids absolutely adored staying with Emily and there was never a problem but Ella made sure to remind Emily that if the kids were giving her a hard time that she could call whenever and she and Erin would come pick them up.  
  
Eventually Erin makes her way upstairs and when she walks to bedroom door to see Ella tugging on a dress in front of the full length mirror. She can’t help but admire her wife. After all these years she can still render her speechless. When she sees Ella struggling with the zipper she finally moves from her spot to help her.  
  
“Looks like someone’s got a hot date tonight,” she says as she zips up the back of Ella’s dress. She can’t help but put her arms around Ella and put her chin on her shoulder as they make eye contact through the mirror.  
  
“You look incredible.”  
  
“I sure hope so. Gotta dress to impress right?”  
  
“Well I am most definitely impressed,” Erin gets out before Ella’s turning in her arms.  
  
Ella pulls her down by the front of her shirt and kisses her senseless for a while. Erin eventually pulls back before making her way to Ella’s neck and makes a conscious effort not to leave any marks. She kisses her way up to Ella’s ear and says, “Let’s just cancel the reservations and order in” before moving back to her lips. Ella lets out a “yes” against her lips and immediately pulls back and says “No no no. We have been waiting for a night out for a _very_ long time. We are going to have a nice dinner, maybe drink some wine. Then we’re going to take a walk downtown and then we are going to come back here and have some amazing, loud sex.”  
  
With closed eyes Erin leans her forehead on Ella’s as she keeps her hands firmly planted on Ella’s hips so she’s not tempted to skip to the really good part.  
  
After taking a deep breath Erin looks at her watch and says “then we should head out now otherwise we might miss our reservation.”  
  
As they start heading out the door Ella starts looking at her phone and Erin can’t help but smile.  
  
“Ella. The twins are fine. If there was a problem Em would have called. They’re fine. Em might let them have too much ice cream but they aren’t in any danger.”  
  
Ella smiles at that, “you’re right. Gotta go through the motions every time though. I don’t think I’ll ever be used to it. Oh and if they get stomachaches because of all that ice cream, you get to deal with it.” With that she presses a kiss to Erin’s mouth and goes to put on her heels before they walk out.  
  
As she goes to close the front door, Erin can’t help but smile at the sight of one of the pictures from the last wedding they went to. The twins insisted on taking a silly picture so there they were, in their fancy wedding clothes making faces at the camera. They loved the way the picture turned out so much that they had it enlarged and framed and now it sits on the table in the hallway. It always puts a smile on her face and when she goes to sit in the car Ella can’t help but ask what the smile is about.  
  
“I just really love you...and us…and all of this” she says as she points to the house.


	3. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella has nightmares.

The nightmares had started when she was a kid. The situation inside her house wasn’t the best to say the least and it had started taking a toll on Ella. When she was young and got nightmares she would curl up with Eliza and Liza would always know what to do. Her nights were often restless and she constantly didn’t get enough sleep. Moving back to Chicago and being close to her family again helped abate the nightmares she kept having. 

It had been a while but surely enough the nightmares came back. She liked Lori and Taryn but she didn’t quite feel comfortable enough going to them with this so she did what she thought would be the best in this situation, she didn’t stayed up the rest of the night. When it came time for practice the next day it became apparent that Ella hadn’t gotten any sleep. When Carm started asking about it Ella told her about the nightmares and Carm told her that if she ever got them again then she could just come over and hang out at the Canadians’ house for the night. She already had a key and she felt a lot more comfortable around Carm than she did around Lori and Taryn so she agreed to it.

The next nightmare didn’t come for another couple of weeks but when it did Ella shot up in bed. She was breathing hard and she could already feel herself sweating through her shirt. She put on fresh shirt and quietly made her way out of her apartment and into the Canadians’ apartment. She let herself in with her key but stopped right outside of Carm’s closed door. 

_What does someone even say in this situation? “Sorry I started having nightmares again and you said you’d help?” Sure, that was going to go over great. Was there even a proper way to approach the friend you made a few weeks ago in the middle of the night because you were having nightmares?_

She couldn’t take the suspense anymore so she knocked as lightly as she could. There was no response so she tried knocking a little louder and this time she heard a grunt from inside so she opened the door and got inside.

“Ella? What’s wrong? Did you get another nightmare?”

“Yeah. I just, I didn’t know what to do and you said that,” Carm stopped her before she could finish and held up the other side of the comforter as a signal for Ella to climb in. When she did all she could say was “thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just try to get some sleep. Can’t have you tired during practice again.”

With that they both fell asleep but Ella made sure to wake up early the next morning so she could get back to her apartment before Lori and Taryn figured out she was gone during the night. She didn’t exactly owe them an explanation but they were her friends and she didn’t want to tell them that she didn’t feel close enough to come to them with this. 

The next practice went by normally and Ella felt rested. She didn’t get nightmares the night she stayed at Carm’s and she felt that boding well. She finally had someone she could go to about the nightmares again. After she moved out and went to Illinois she would stay with Emily every time she got nightmares. But after she graduated she started having trouble again. The first few years she lived with Tyson and it wasn’t a problem but when he started to get serious with Megan, Ella knew she would need to try and cope with the nightmares herself. The year she spent in Paris was the second worst. Being that far away from family was really taking a toll on Ella. The worst was the season she spent in Boca Raton and the time immediately after it. She felt completely alone and the nightmares were constant. It was the worst year of her life. But things were looking better now. The nightmares persisted but Ella would always go over to Carm’s and they would subside. 

One morning she didn’t wake up early enough and walked out of Carm’s bedroom with bleary eyes and her oversized sleep shirt coming off one shoulder. Once she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes she saw a very wide eyed Erin McLeod. To her credit, Erin didn’t say a thing. How could you when the girl you’ve been thinking about a little too much just walked out of your best friend’s room in the morning. So she did the only thing she could think of doing in this situation, she poured Ella a cup of coffee and went back to making her breakfast. 

“Did you want some breakfast?”

“Uh…sure. That would be great. Thank you.”

Erin didn’t say a word after that and that was very uncharacteristic. Ella always loved talking to her and Erin always had something to say. The silence became deafening so Ella decided to tell Erin what she had been doing the past few weeks.

“It’s nightmares. I get nightmares and Carm’s been helping me get back to sleep after them,” she rushes out. 

“Oh” Well now she feels like an idiot. Of course Carm wouldn’t be hooking up with Ella. Especially since she knows that Erin’s been developing feelings for her. 

At this time Carm made her way out of her bedroom and broke the tension. They all sat down to breakfast and Ella made her way back to her apartment before Lori and Taryn sent a search party after her. 

Ella didn’t have very many nightmares after that but soon news broke that Carm was being traded and it broke her heart. The two had become very close since the Canadian arrived and Ella became a mess when Carm told her. They sat up with Erin most of the night and Carm promised to Skype often. Ella stayed in Carm’s room that night but she couldn’t sleep at all. Her nightmares had always been about people leaving but never once did she think that Carm would leave too. Sure it wasn’t voluntary and she’d still talk to her all the time but tomorrow they were taking her to the airport and she’d be gone. 

When Ella walked into the bathroom the next morning she could see how red her eyes had gotten the night before. They were still a little puffy but she was determined to put on a brave face for when she goes with Erin to drop Carm off. 

There’s another tearful goodbye at the airport and before Ella knows it she’s already on her way back to their apartment complex. Erin holds her hand the entire way back and Ella is grateful for the comfort. Erin walks her to her door and before Ella opens the door she says, “hey I know you’d go to Carm about your nightmares but if you ever need anyone else to talk to about them you know can always come to me too okay? Just because Carm’s gone doesn’t mean you have to stop coming around.”

Before Ella can help it she’s moving onto her toes so she can wrap Erin in a hug and bury her face in her neck. Erin’s arms go around her and they stay like that for a while. Ella mumbles out a thank you against her neck and pulls herself back. With another goodbye Ella heads back inside her apartment and heads straight for her room. 

A few days later the nightmares start to come back and Ella remembers what Erin said. She doesn’t want to just drop by unannounced so she picks up her phone and dials Erin’s number in the hope that she’ll pick up. 

A very groggy Erin answers, “ ‘lo.”

“Hey Erin it’s Ella. I’m really sorry about calling you at this time and now I don’t know why I did…you know what, just forget it. Just go back to sleep...” but before Ella can finish Erin interrupts her, sounding a lot more alert.

“Ella, are you having nightmares again?”

Ella lets out a very timid, “yes”

“You still have your key right”

“Yes”

“Then what are you waiting for, come over okay. And don’t ever apologize about this again” With that Erin hangs up and waits for Ella to make her way over.   
Ella lets herself in with the key like she normally and when she gets to Erin’s door she takes a deep breath and opens the door. She doesn’t know what to do from there so she stands by the door until Erin speaks up, “well are you just going to stand there the entire night?” With that Ella makes her way over to the other side of Erin’s bed and gets in. She isn’t surprised with the amount of warmth there. The Canadians were like furnaces, always running really hot. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“No” How was she supposed to talk about it when her nightmares involved Erin leaving her too. That was not a conversation she wanted to have right now.

“Okay. Try and get some sleep okay.”

“Night”

The nights are starting to get colder in Chicago and Ella was really thankful for Erin’s warmth right now. She scoots a little closer to Erin and eventually falls asleep. This time it’s Erin that just can’t seem to fall asleep. She stares at her ceiling for a while and then her eyes go to the sleeping woman next to her that just keeps snuggling closer and closer. Eventually out of pure exhaustion Erin falls asleep too. 

When Erin wakes up the next morning she realizes that she moved to sleep on her side which wouldn’t be all that strange except this time she’s got Ella pressed to her back, she doesn’t dare move a muscle for fear of waking Ella. Eventually Erin can feel her arm getting numb under her and decides to see if she can move Ella without waking her. Very slowly Erin starts to push back and Ella eventually moves to her back and so does Erin. She lets out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding but that’s short lived because Ella moves so she’s got an arm and a leg slung over Erin and her head is buried in Erin’s neck. Erin can feel her heart start to beat a little faster but she doesn’t want to wake Ella up so she remains as still as possible and tries to fall back asleep. 

The first thing Ella notices when starts to awaken is the immense amount of warmth surrounding her. Then she notices the body beneath her and she remembers where she is. Thinking that Erin is still asleep, Ella tries to detach herself from Erin as slowly as possible. Once she moves back far enough she can’t help but notice how good it felt to wake up next to Erin and that thought starts to worry her. It isn’t the first time she’s had these foreign thoughts about Erin but it definitely was the first time that they had slept in the same bed together. Ella decides to get out before her thoughts start taking very dangerous turns. 

Erin waits a few moments after Ella leaves the room and follow her out. She walks out of her bedroom feigning sleepiness and makes her way to the fridge as Ella is making her way past the kitchen.

“Did you want to stay for breakfast?” 

“No, I really should get back. I promised Lori and T that I’d make them breakfast this morning.” It’s a lie and she knows it but before Erin can say anything, her new roommate, Dri, makes her way out of the bedroom. 

“Morning guys”

Both Ella and Erin let out a good morning and Ella says a quick goodbye before she practically runs out the front door.

Erin has no response for the raised eyebrow Dri gives her when Ella leaves. 

Ella doesn’t have nightmares for next few weeks but her nights are filled with thoughts she has never had before and now her nights are sleepless for an entirely different reason. She can’t bring herself to back to Erin’s apartment for the night because she knows if she does then she might start something she’s not sure she’s ready to admit to herself that she wants.


	4. The Best Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is honestly self service at this point. All this one shots are basically going to have no real meaning or purpose.

Erin was beyond excited when the PA system indicated that her flight was beginning to board. Canada had a good tournament and qualified for the Olympics but now it was time to go back home. It had been a long six weeks without Ella but she was finally going to see her again. Ella had been busy with preseason and Erin had been busy with camp and then qualifiers and the time difference didn’t make it any easier but they talked when they could. She had already texted Ella that she was boarding and she could contain her excitement as she got on the plane. 

When Ella saw the text from Erin she got a smile on her face. Settling down in Sweden hadn’t been easy but it would have been much easier if she had Erin by her side. But now that Erin was back it would be better. And now they wouldn’t be separated until the Olympics. They figured it would be best to have Ella stay in Malmo while Erin was in Brazil. It was a shorter tournament so she wouldn’t be gone as long. 

Ella had an entire plan laid out for when Erin got home. She was getting home around dinner time so Ella decided to try out some new recipes and have a nice candlelit dinner for their first night together in a very long time. Ella didn’t usually like cooking but she really wanted to do this for Erin. She replied back to Erin’s text with a ‘can’t wait’ and started to make a run to the grocery store. 

Erin’s connecting flight landed in DC and Erin got off. The layover should have only been a couple of hours but when there was no announcement made for boarding she began to wonder. Soon enough they announcement was made that their flight would be delayed. She let out a disappointed sigh and got her phone out to FaceTime Ella. 

When Ella picked up Erin momentarily forgot what happened and said, “Hi beautiful how’s it going?”

Ella shook her head because she knew exactly how she looked. She was on her way back from practice and probably looked like she ran a marathon. But she indulged Erin anyway, “Nothing much. Shouldn’t you be on a plane right now?”

“Yeah, about that. There are some problems with the plane and they are anticipating a six-hour delay.”

Ella frowned. That meant Erin wouldn’t get home until the middle of the night. Erin knew what was going through Ella’s head so she said, “Don’t even think about staying up. Go to sleep and I promise I’ll wake you up when I get in”

“But I can come pick you up”

“No, Ella. I’ll grab a taxi home.”

“Fine. But promise you’ll wake me up when you get in?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll wake up” 

“Okay. I love you. Let me know when your plane leaves.”

“Love you darling”

Erin hung up and knew that she wasn’t going to wake Ella up when she got in. If she woke Ella up she knew that Ella wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. She entertained herself until her flight was ready to board. She had waited this long, surely she could wait a few more hours.

Ella decided that she was going to try and stay up anyway. When she got home she got into the shower. When she got out she put on one of Erin’s warmup sweatshirts. Whenever Erin would be gone for some time Ella would wearing Erin’s clothes when she was at home. They always smelled like her and she loved it. It would make her feel like Erin wasn’t as far away as she actually was. 

She was determined to still have this dinner with Erin and if that meant staying up and eating at an odd hour then she was going to do it. When she got the text from Erin saying that she had boarded the flight to Stockholm it was already around dinner time so Ella grabbed a quick snack and started to prep dinner. Meanwhile, after what felt like forever Erin boarded her flight to Stockholm she took the time to try and sleep through the flight. 

Ella made dinner and set two plates out for both of them so all she would have to do when Erin got home was heat them up. She sat down and turned on the TV and tried her best to stay up. Around 2 AM Ella could feel herself becoming more drowsy. It was getting to be more difficult to keep here eyes open. She still had a few hours until Erin’s plane got in and then she would be grabbing a taxi home. She decided that it would okay if she took a short nap. She set an alarm on her phone for an hour later and got a blanket so she could lay down on the couch. However, when her alarm went off to wake her up she had slept through it.

Erin got off the plane and speed walked her way over to baggage claim. It really made no difference because the carousel had not even started moving. Erin found herself growing impatient. It was around 5 in the morning and she still had to get to Malmo. When she saw her bags she quickly grabbed them and made her way out front to grab a taxi. All she wanted to do was get home and cuddle up next to Ella.

Erin tried to be as quiet as possible when she was walked through the front door. She knew Ella wouldn’t be able to stay up and that was confirmed when she saw Ella curled up on the couch under a throw. She left her suitcases in the hall and moved towards the couch. She knelt down near Ella and saw that she was completely out. She pressed a kiss to her head and went into their closet to grab some clothes so she could shower. On her way to the bedroom she saw the balloons. It was basically a tradition at this point. Any time Erin was gone for a while Ella would get ‘Welcome Home’ balloons as their own little joke. It had started when Ella had officially moved in with Erin during the offseason. Erin had gotten her balloons that had welcome home written on them and Ella won’t admit it to anyone but she definitely got a little teary eyed when she saw them. Ella’s been getting them every since and Erin loves it. 

After her shower she felt a little better and moved back to the living room. She decided to let Ella sleep and went to carry her into the bedroom. She tried not to jostle her too much as she carried her in a thankfully she didn’t wake up. Erin got in next to her and pulled up the covers. She was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep shortly after her head hit the pillow.

Ella could feel herself heating up. She had put on Erin’s old sweatshirt when she got out of the shower but usually got cold. When she started coming to she realized that she was in bed and didn’t remember how she got there. She could feel head radiating from beside her and that’s when she saw that Erin had come home. Erin was laying on her back and Ella turned onto her side to face her. It had been so long since they had been together but Ella was glad to have her back. Almost as if Erin could feel eyes on her she started to wake. She was always a much lighter sleeper than Ella was.

“Staring is rude you know,” she said in a sleep riddled voice.

Ella moved so she was laying partially on top of Erin and pressed a kiss to her neck before resting her head there.

“I can’t help it. I missed you really bad”

Erin put her arms around her and pulled her up so she was lying completely on top of Erin. 

“I know. But now we’ve got a few uninterrupted months” 

Ella let out a hmm and cuddled in closer to Erin. Erin started running her hands down Ella’s back under the sweatshirt to try and get her to fall back asleep.

“I’ve got nothing to do tomorrow morning so we can sleep in” 

“Sounds like a plan”


	5. Fun Sized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick and dirty because there are way too many AU ideas floating around in my head and this one was the easiest (and the fastest) to write.

Ella hated that they would move around all the stuff on the shelves on this grocery store. It was the one that was closest to her house and always had all the stuff she needed so it was so convenient to shop there but they kept moving things around on the shelves so sometimes what she wanted was on the top shelf. And these shelves were just abnormally high. She wasn't short per say. She was average height and she would fight anyone that would make fun of her for her height. Thankfully all the people she associated with knew how tough she was so they wouldn't touch the area of height but ever so often she got some short jokes. Unfortunately she turned out to be the runt of the family. All of her siblings had taken after her father with respects to height but she took after her mother which meant that they would make fun of her about her height. Especially because she was also the youngest. Usually she didn't have a problem with her height but ever so often she would become painfully aware of it. Now was one of those times. 

She looked up at the pasta sauce she wanted sitting on the top shelf. She could very easily just grab any of the other sauces but she specifically wanted the one that was just out of her reach. She tried to get on her toes to reach but she still couldn't get a hold of it. She took a look down the aisle to see if anyone was there and when she was sure she was alone she tried to jump up and grab a jar. It was just out of reach so she tried jumping again. This time she got her fingers on it. She was about to jump for a third time when she heard the giggling. 

Erin started to turn into the aisle when she saw this tiny woman reaching to grab something off the top shelf. She was about to call out and say that she could help her out but before she knew it the lady was jumping up and down trying to reach it. She tried but she couldn't stop herself from laughing. That's when the lady turned to her and glared at her. Oh no, this wasn't going to end well. 

"I...uh, I can help you grab that if you want?" 

"No." Ella knows that she should probably just take the help that was offered but she was not going to let this talking beanstalk get the best of her. She hated that stupid smile on her face. 

"Are you sure? It seems like a tall task to get something off that shelf" Erin couldn't help it. She knows she shouldn't have made the joke but the moment was calling for it. 

Ella scowled at her. 

"Alright. Alright. No need to have a short fuse" Okay now that one she probably shouldn't have said but there were tears in her eyes now. 

Ella felt herself getting furious so she tried to calm herself down. This was not the place she wanted to start a scene so she stormed away from the jackass that thought she was funny. What kind of asshole makes fun of a total stranger anyway? 

Erin spent a few more moments trying to collect herself and wiped the tears from her eyes. When she saw that the girl was gone she went to where she was standing and grabbed a jar of pasta sauce that was sitting on the top shelf. She felt really bad now. Usually people are okay with the jokes but apparently this girl didn't like them. She really should be more considerate. Erin went to the register and paid for the items as well as the pasta sauce. When she steps out of the store she can see the girl from the aisle walking towards her car so Erin runs after her. 

"Hey! I'm really sorry about the jokes. Sometimes I get carried away. But here," she sticks out the pasta sauce as a peace offering, "I think this is what you were going for." 

Ella studies her for a minute. She looks from the pasta sauce to the stranger's face. She takes the jar from her hand, says thank you and keeps walking towards her car. Erin runs after her again trying to get in front of her. 

"Hey, I really am sorry. I'm not trying to mess with you or anything." 

"Okay." Ella keeps walking and this time Erin stays in place just watching her walk away. 

Ella files away the event and doesn't think about it again until she's at the grocery store again the next week to get cereal. She lets out a sigh when she sees what she wants on the top shelf again. She just wanted some damn Frosted Flakes after the day she's had. Someone at this store definitely hates her. 

That's how Erin sees her again. Staring up at a row of cereal with an abysmal look on her face. She's tempted to just walk away because it's obvious this lady doesn't like her. But then the lady turns and sees her. She has the most defeated look on her face. No one can get _that_ sad about cereal right? If she's honest she's gotten pretty emotional about food but that kind of look comes from more than just not being able to reach the cereal. Without saying a word Erin walks to where the stranger is standing and gets her a box down from the top shelf. The "thank you" she gets in return is really quiet and she almost misses it. 

"No problem. Let me know if there's anything you need me to grab." That gets a sad smile out of the pint-sized stranger before she turns and walks towards the cashiers. 

It’s a few weeks later when Ella sees the girl at the grocery store again but this time she smiles at her. When Erin sees that smile pointed at her she grins back. 

"Can you help me with something" 

"Absolutely" and that's how their friendship starts. Turns out they both get groceries at the almost the same time every week so they start walking through the aisles together and Erin helps Ella with all the stuff that's just a little too high for her. 

Ella hated it when people were so much taller than she was. It wasn't that she was jealous of their height but more so of it being so inconvenient to talk to them or walk next to them. She was always looking up at people. She dated a tall guy in college and she absolutely hated it when he would lean down for kisses or when she would have to get on her toes to kiss him. So when the girl from the grocery store she kept running into asks her if she wants to grab a cup of coffee she is inclined to say no but she hears herself saying yes. 

A few months later when Erin had Ella pushed against a wall of her apartment while pressing kisses to her neck Ella was reminded of their height difference once again. Except this time this was something about the way Erin had lifted her up so she could get to her neck much easier. Soon enough Ella had her legs around Erin's torso to keep her face to face with her. She might have hated height differences before but now she loved when Erin would walk behind her and rest her head on top of hers. Or when Ella would hug Erin and be just tall enough that she could press kisses to Erin's neck and lean her head on her shoulder. Yeah, this height difference thing was definitely working for her.


	6. Fire Hazard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella shouldn't cook. Like ever.

After four years of living together, Eliza had moved out and Ella was left by herself. She had always lived with someone so she never was the one in charge of cooking so it was never something had learned how to do. Now Ella was standing alone in her apartment staring at the contents of her fridge. There was food in there but she didn't have the energy to learn how to make herself something. So she grabbed her phone from the counter and called in Chinese takeout. 

This trend continued for a few more days until she got sick of eating out all the time so she decided that she would cook. After pulling out a recipe that looked easy enough she made sure she had all the necessary ingredients. She thought everything was going okay until her fire alarm went off. She ran back into the kitchen and saw smoke coming out of her oven. She ran over to open it and as soon as she did she could feel the smoke reach her lungs and she started coughing. When she heard the alarm go off in the hallway outside her apartment she knew she had to leave. She ran outside and saw all of her neighbors making their way to the stairs as well. After standing in the cold for while the firefighters showed up and ran inside. The people around her were wondering what could have possibly caused the alarm to go off but Ella kept her mouth shut and didn't take the blame. When the firefighters came back out she went over to the building manager and told him what happened. Thankfully nothing serious had happened but she was definitely being charged for a new stove. She made her way back into her apartment when the firefighters gave the go ahead and vowed to never use the oven again. 

A couple of weeks later she got tired of eating out once again and mooching off her mom so she decided to try her hand at cooking again. This time everything was going to made on the stove top. No oven. Not again. She prepped everything as needed and began to heat up a bit of oil in a pan on the stove. She was about to lift the lid on the pot when she saw the small fire that started on the inside. 

"Shit!" She yelled before she turned off the stove and ran to find her fire extinguisher. When she ran back to the stove her fire alarm had gone off once again. She put out the small fire but she knew she had to exit the building anyway. This time was quite possibly worse than last time. The city had been going through a cold spell so it was uncharacteristically cooler than she would have liked it to be. But she found a place to sit while the fire fighters checked out the building. 

Erin was so not happy with this. This was the second time within a week that the damn fire alarm had gone off. She was just wearing shorts and ran outside with Max in this freezing temperature. She might be Canadian but it was too cold to be wearing shorts outdoors. She went over to the building manager to see what the hell was going on. 

"A resident had an incident trying to cook again. No big deal. She put the fire out so no harm was done." 

"That doesn't sound too bad. Wait, again? What do you mean again? It's the same person as last time?" She started to get angrier as she realized it was the same idiot that kept setting off the fire alarm. 

Alex, the building manager, refused to tell her the name of the resident but Erin overheard the firefighters talking about which apartment number they were in. Erin made a mental note of it before she headed inside and got under the covers trying to ward off the cold. 

When Ella came back from work the next day she saw a package sitting on door. She picked it up and took it inside where she put it on the counter and took it out of the plastic bag. There was a note stuck on top of what looked like chicken alfredo. 

**Please don’t try to cook again.  
-Apt 784 **

She inspected the container before she opened it. She knew she probably shouldn’t eat something a stranger left at her door but it smelled really good and she's really and she knows it's going to take at least 40 minutes for the Indian place down the street to get her order ready. She doesn’t think anyone hates her enough to poison her so she figures the food should be safe right? She keeps justifying this to herself as she goes to pour herself a glass of wine. She comes back to the container with a fork and stares at it for a little while longer before taking a sniff. It smelled absolutely delightful. She audibly moaned when she took her first bite. Whoever sent it over was definitely an angel. Living in Chicago meant that she had eaten at some awesome places but the magic that was in the tupperware container in front of her was definitely top 10. She moved to her small dinner table so she could properly enjoy the meal and savored every bite. 

The next morning Ella made sure the dishes were washed and she left her own note on the container before running up three floors to put it outside of apartment 784 before heading out to work. When Erin opened her door to leave for work she saw the container sitting by her feet. She picked it up and put it on her counter that caused the note on it to slip off and Erin caught it as she made her way to the elevator so she wasn't late for work. 

**So I took your advice. Didn't cook. Pasta was exceptional. Tasted great with Chardonnay. 10/10.  
-Apt 421**

Erin balled up the note and tossed it in the trash can when she reached the lobby. She was just happy she didn't have to run outside in the middle of the night because the fire hazard on the fourth floor was hungry. If all she had to do was make a little more food every time then she would do just that. 

Their little arrangement continued. Ella had no idea who lived in apartment 784 but she started calling them Smokey the Bear because they were so intent on stopping fires while she got the nickname Fire Hazard. The food was phenomenal every time and the notes they sent back and forth got cheeky. Every time Ella got a package sitting on her front step she would always wash the dishes before taking them up and leaving them in front of the right apartment. Sometimes there would be a dessert with it whatever was sent down to her and she loved it every time. If she had a work stuff she would always write on the note to not bring food that night and when Smokey was leaving they would always leave a note too. 

A few weeks later Ella came home to four containers sitting by her door with a note. 

**Sorry, I stress bake. Hope you like pie.  
-784 **

When she washed all the dishes a few weeks later she left a note with it. 

**You aren't helping my sweet tooth but you made me a very popular person at work.  
-421 **

The food and notes continued but a few months later Ella comes home to a container but instead of a note there is a USB drive taped to the lid. She pulls out her computer and opens up the drive to see what's in it. As she glances through the contents she notices that all the file names seem to be names of dishes and then she sees the file titled 'READ ME'. After opening she realizes that Smokey was moving and wouldn’t be leaving stuff for her anymore. But she did come up with easy recipes for Ella to try out and hopefully not burn down the building in the process. Ella found it slightly odd that she was getting all sad about a person who she didn't even know. She was going to miss the food but she was also going to miss the notes that went along with it. She wrote up her thank you and made a mental note to grab a bottle of wine as a sort of parting gift for her benefactor. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few months after Smokey had moved out Ella got a new job offer out of town as well. She wasn't sure if she wanted to leave Chicago for Houston but it was such a great opportunity and she couldn’t say no. She found herself falling in love with the city. Ella's open personality helped her make new friends very quickly. She found a group of girls that she really clicked with. This was also where she met Erin. The two hit it off instantly and Ella couldn’t resist the pull she felt towards Erin. They danced around each other for a while but Erin pulled her to the side during one of the groups weekly hangouts and asked if Ella wanted to grab dinner the next night, just the two of them. 

The date went well and Ella found herself spending more and more time with Erin, just the two of them. One date turned into another and then another and Erin found herself showing up at Ella's doorstep with an overnight bag in her hand. Ella opened the door with a surprised look her face mostly due to the fact that Erin was over an hour early. Ella had said that she wanted to cook for Erin tonight instead of just going out or ordering in. Erin leaned on the door frame before Ella pulled her in by the front of her shirt and gave her a kiss. A 'ding' coming from the kitchen made them break apart and Erin rested her forehead on Ella's before dropping her bag and letting Ella pull her into the kitchen. Since she was here so early she was enlisted to help but only a little bit. 

Ella would walk over to her computer, give Erin something to do and go back and do something herself. After the second time that she did this Erin walked over to the computer to read the recipe herself. She saw a very familiar looking word file and couldn't believe it. 

"Where did you get this?" 

She must have sounded very surprised because Ella gave her a funny look before replying. 

"There was someone in my old apartment building that would make food for me and left me a bunch of recipes before moving out" 

It was a weird story that Ella had told before and she usually got a few laughs or was chided for just eating food that was left at her doorstep when she didn't know who it came from. What she did not expect was a ridiculously large smile to appear on Erin's face. 

"What's got you looking like that?" 

"Nothing. You're just my favorite fire hazard." 

Ella froze and looked back at Erin who was leaning against the counter waiting for Ella to realize it. 

"No way" Ella knew that Erin had also lived in Chicago but Chicago was so big that she didn't stop to ask where Erin had lived during her time there. 

"At least I get to supervise this time so I know I won't run outside if this goes sideways." 

"Careful now. I have half a mind just to let you cook the rest of this while I sit and watch. I did enjoy your cooking for the six months that we were both in the building." 

"Nah I'll let you handle this one...just don’t set anything on fire." Ella gave her a shove before banishing her to the living room while she finished cooking. 

Neither of them could really believe it. They spent 6 months living in the same building sending notes back and forth to each other and didn’t even realize it. They might have missed each other then but Erin was going to make sure that they made up for lost time.


End file.
